I made an end grain cutting board this week to take to a white elephant gift exchange.

As I ripped the boards and got ready for the final glue up I noticed black marks in the maple.At the time, I thought they were burn marks and expected to use a scraper or plane to take them off when prepping for oiling.Well I started scraping and then realized the black marks made it all the way through the wood.

Its not a deal breaker and the gift will still be well recieved but I am starting one for my wife now and would prefer those not show up.

What do you guys think this is?

Here is a pic from before flipping every other piece and final glue up (ignore the largest black mark – that one really was burning)

5 replies so far

Does it look like blue stain from fungus to you? Can’t really see it that well in those pics. Blue stain I’ve seen took up a larger area of the board than that but who knows. Maybe someone else has a better idea.

-- "Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone." -- Pablo Picasso

MaroonGoon—thanks for the reply. From what I can see it isnt very blue. I added another picture to the post that was before I flipped the pieces for final glue up. The largest black mark was indeed a burn but you can see the repeated black/grey marks that Im talking about.